Skyland Workforce Center Places 1,000th Clients in Jobs

The Skyland Workforce Center reached a significant milestone in August 2022, as it helped place its 1,000th client in a job. Among other programs, the Center has sponsored several construction training classes, a DC Department of Transportation infrastructure training class and a program to help returning citizens learn soft job skills.

The Workforce Center has also hosted multiple hiring fairs, including ones for the US Postal Service and Lidl, the grocery story that opened at Skyland Town Center. Lidl hired 78 people through the hiring fair. Hiring fairs featuring a range of employers are now held monthly at THEARC.

Chris Smith, Chairman and CEO of WC Smith, and Gary Rappaport, CEO of Rappaport Co., in 2014 conceived of and developed the Skyland Workforce Center, located across the street from Skyland Town Center. WC Smith and Rappaport are the lead developers of Skyland Town Center, and Smith and Rappaport realized that construction of the project would attract would-be workers who might not necessarily have the skills necessary for construction jobs.

The Center is now a program of Building Bridges Across the River, the nonprofit organization that also manages THEARC and the 11^th Street Bridge Park.

Created as a community investment initiative, Skyland Workforce Center is a collaborative of nonprofit organizations providing employment-related services for many unemployed and underemployed residents of Wards 7 and 8 in Washington, DC.

The Center leverages its expertise to provide high-quality workforce development programs in one location, leading to work-ready employee candidates, career-focused job placement, economic self-sufficiency, and improved quality of life.

Since its launch nearly 10 years ago, SWC has served more than 6,000 individual DC residents, with more than 16,000 overall client interactions. The vast majority of the Center’s clients live in Wards 7 and 8.